Stereoscopic playback devices, e.g., devices which allow playback of left and right eye images providing a 3D experience to a user, are growing in popularity. It is expected that such devices will be used to display images corresponding to sporting events, fashion shows, concerts and/or other scenes and may provide the user a sense of being present within the displayed scene/environment.
During playback or presentation of a stereoscopic scene, a user may desire to zoom in on a portion of the scene being presented, e.g., on a player kicking the ball or a particular model at a fashion show. From the perspective a user immersed in a simulated 3D environment, it may be undesirable to suddenly zoom in on a portion of a scene since this may be perceived as a sudden unnatural change in the user's viewing position. A switch back to normal viewing may result in a similar undesired sudden change in perspective to the user breaking what maybe a desired sense of being present at a real event. Furthermore such sudden changes may make a user uneasy, uncomfortable or even sick, e.g., dizzy, since such changes in perspective normally do not happen in a real world environment.
In view of the above discussion it should be appreciated that there is a need for methods and apparatus which would allow a user to implement user controllable zoom operations with respect to stereoscopic images without at least some of the effects that sudden changes in zoom might create without some other action being taken to minimize or reduce what might otherwise be perceived as an unnatural change in view perspective.